Centenary College wrestling team has successful 2012-13 season

A small New Jersey wrestling program made one vicious roar this year as they made school history in honor of the program’s founder, the late Professor Robert T. Quade.

Last May, the program’s original founder and most dedicated fan Robert Quade passed away, leaving Head Coach John Garriques and his nationally ranked wrestling team motivation to fulfill Quade’s legacy on their quest for the program’s first ever national title.

Although the Cyclones did not come home with a national title, the 2012-13 squad made history like no program in Centenary’s past ever has. Ranked as high as third in the nation this year following the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, the Cyclones set milestones and broke history that nobody ever expected the small New Jersey school would ever accomplish.

After Hurricane Sandy destruction forced the season opening Ithaca College Invitational to cancel, the Cyclones opened the year as they headed to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. for the annual John Reese Duals. After opening the day with a big 24-15 win over No. 11 Wilkes University, the Cyclones took home another pair of wins over York College (Pa.) and Oneonta State before falling to #4
Cortland State on a second criteria tiebreaker to start the season 3-1.

Only a week later, the Cyclones headed up to Springfield, Mass. for the 2013 Doug Parker Springfield Invitational for their first tournament of the year. Led behind three first-place finishers and a place-winner in each of the 10 weight classes, the Cyclones stormed ahead to their first tournament victory, ousting second-place Roger Williams by a total 28.5 team points.

With momentum built up from their tournament victory, the Cyclones returned back home to Hackettstown for their annual Bob Quade Open. With this year’s tournament being the first without Quade in attendance, Coach Garriques opened the day-long event with a few words to honor the program’s father: “I created this event in honor of a great man, a man who understood what wrestling would bring to the College.”

Although Professor Quade was not in attendance, the Cyclones made his presence known as they set his picture atop his favorite chair right alongside the first mat, keeping the honor of the Bob Quade Open alive.

With a pair of quality tournament finishes behind them, the Cyclones opened up conference action with a home dual against Hunter College, going on to defeat the Hawks 28-12 to improve their overall record to 4-1 moving into one of the most challenging sections of the team’s schedule.

Following the winter break, the Cyclones headed out to their second appearance at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, earning a fifth seed coming into the prestigious event. After dropping their first two duals in last year’s appearance, the Cyclones were out to prove their worth as they squared up against No. 13 Luther College in the opening round.

The Cyclones came out strong early on out in Springfield, Ill. as they took down Luther 27-13 to set them up against the 2012 second-place finishing Augsburg in the second round. Despite a late pair of wins by No. 4 Augsburg, the Cyclones were able to pull out with the 19-15 victory to send them into the semi-finals, marking the first time in the event’s history that Wartburg and Augsburg did not meet.

With their emotions at an all-time high, the Cyclones were set to take on defending champion No. 1 Wartburg in the semi-finals for their shot at an unbelievable upset and a spot in the championship. Unfortunately the Cyclones were unable to take down the champions, falling to Wartburg 23-12 to send them into the third-place match against No. 3 Cortland who upset them earlier in the year at the John Reese Duals on November 10th.

Down 18-14 moving into the final match of the afternoon, the Cyclones turned to their returning All-American senior co-captain Zitone who would need to record at least a five-point tech fall or pin to give the Cyclones the third-place finish. About half way through the second period, Zitone was able to flip Cortland’s Francisco DeCristo to his back, working him to the mat to earn a
pin at 4:39 and send the Cyclones home with a third-place finish thanks to a 20-18 victory over Cortland State.

With the help of their third-place finish at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, the Cyclones were ranked third in the nation by the January 16th NWCA Coaches’ Poll, giving Centenary its highest ranking in school history.

Just under two weeks after the National Duals, a beat up Centenary team went into battle again without their full line-up, and were upset by conference foe No. 18 TCNJ 21-17 for only their third and final loss of the entire season.

Returning home looking to swing the momentum back in their favor, the Cyclones rounded out the regular season with four straight dual victories, taking down Division II East Stroudsburg University, No. 8 Delaware Valley College, Mount Saint Vincent, and King’s College to end the regular season with a 12-3 record.

Behind the newly structured NCAA Tournament format, the Cyclones headed out to join the 17-team field at the 2013 NCAA East Regional Tournament in Gettysburg, Pa. as they continued their journey towards the program’s first national title.

Paired up with the East’s best wrestlers in the nation, which featured three top 10 teams, as well as three top 30 teams, the Cyclones were able to drive through the tournament and take home the 2013 NCAA East Region Championship, outscoring second-place No. 8 Delaware Valley College 109.5-108 to become the first ever NCAA East Region Champions. The Championship was led by seven place-winners, including five NCAA Qualifiers asZach Huxford (Jackson, N.J., Jackson Memorial), Cory C. Vernon (Great Meadows, N.J., Hackettstown High School), and Owen Vernon (Great Meadows, N.J., Hackettstown) took third-place at 133 lbs., 141 lbs., and 165 lbs. respectively, while co-captains Burdge and Zitone topped the podiums at 157 lbs. and 285 lbs.

With five wrestlers behind him, Coach Garriques headed out to the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena for the 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships hoping to make some history. Despite their first NCAA Tournament victories on day one, Huxford and Cory Vernon were unable to advance to the second round of competition, leaving only the three veterans to continue the Centenary run towards a title.

After their solid performances on day one, Owen Vernon, Burdge, and Zitone all advanced to the second day of action at the tournament, guaranteeing them all All-American honors. With the honors, Chris Burdge became Centenary’s first ever three-time All-American at 157 lbs., a milestone Coach Garriques could not be more proud of:

“It was great to have five guys make it out to the NCAA’S, but it’s hard not to think about the two we left home, who were right there. All five guys gave it their all and each guy won at least one match out there. We are extremely Proud of Chris Burdge becoming Centenary’s first three-time All-American, what an amazing achievement. It was great to see Owen Vernon make it onto the Podium, and also watch our Senior HWT JD wrestle for a National Championship.”

On day two of the tournament, Vernon made his way into the fifth place match before he fell to Stevens Institute of Technology’s Joey Favia to give him his first ever NCAA finish of sixth place, ending his career as a Centenary College Cyclone.

Despite a loss to eventual champion Devin Biscaha of Springfield College, Burdge went on to defeat Wisonsin-Whitewater’s Cade Sarbacker in the third place match, giving the three-time All-American his best ever NCAA finish.

History wasn’t done being made yet however as Zitone became Centenary’s first ever wrestler to make it into the NCAA Championship match, squaring off against Augsburg’s Chad Johnson for the national title. Unfortunately Zitone was unable to take down the top-ranked Johnson, falling in a 5-1 decision to the only man to defeat the senior Zitone all season, ending his career as a two-time All-American and two-time Scholar All-American.

With the help of their three All-Americans, the Cyclones went on for their best NCAA Tournament finish in history, finishing sixth to match their final national ranking.

The Cyclones dominance did not only come on the mat however as they were named a 2013 NWCA Scholar All-Academic Team as they finished with the 24th highest team GPA in all of Division III wrestling including a pair of Scholar All-Americans in Burdge and Zitone.

From their nationally recognized performance on the mat to their hard work and dedication to community service and academics off the mat, the 2012-13 Centenary Wrestling team has set history that future Cyclones will have to continue to work hard on to improve. Although the Cyclones had a season for the record books, Head Coach John Garriques and his squad look to continue to improve and strive towards their ultimate goal of a national championship.